Wataru Ito, a student at the Tokyo University of Arts, spent four years creating “Castle on the Sea,” a one-of-a-kind origami cityscape made of Kent paper. The 2.4 m x 1.8 m model, constructed using only a knife, glue and a hole punch, debuted on April 30th and won top prize at the University’s Grand Prix of Art Festival. The exquisite artwork is meticulously illuminated using Martin Professional LED and fiber optic lighting sources.

Lighting the delicate artwork both internally and externally was a collaborative effort between Ito and the Nakajima Tatsuoki Lighting Design Laboratory Inc. Working from a theme of ‘The Seven Seas,’ LED was chosen to light the outside in order to avoid damage from ultraviolet and infrared rays with fiber optic used on the inside to avoid heat damage.

Two Martin FiberSource CMY150 fiber optic illuminators with CMY color mixing and full-range dimming are used to illuminate the piece from the inside, one mimicking window light while the other exposes the detailed architecture. A total of approximately 800 0.75mm optic fibers supplied by Yamanaka & Co., Ltd were inserted into the miniature castle.

Installed in the ceiling of the glass display case that houses the work are five RGBW full color mixing Alien LED Downlights™ used to simulate the various blues of the Seven Seas and to express the light of the sun and moon.

A Martin Maxxyz PC™ is used for lighting control and programming. Special lighting programs can be used with customized color schemes on special occasions such as New Years, Valentines Day, Pink Ribbon Day or Christmas.